The former vice minister of electric power under Hugo Chávez faces open lawsuits for corruption, money laundering and embezzlement in Venezuela, Andorra, and Spain, and he has been indicted in the United States on similar charges. Described by one jailed banker as a “cancer” whose actions amounted to “extortion”, he is accused of having received large bribes in exchange for granting contracts with the state oil firm, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA).

He and his family were refused Swiss residency in 2021 on the grounds that his presence would threaten public security and risk the country’s reputation. Spanish authorities found that money from the kickbacks moved through one of his Credit Suisse accounts.

Read OCCRP’s investigation into how Venezuelan elites hid stolen oil money in Credit Suisse.